Will weaning constipation eventually get better?

[Rainbowjellyfish]

My boy has been weaning for a couple of months now and has just started to swallow a lot more food than at the start but he’s now very constipated. He strains multiple times a day and is often unsuccessful and when he does manage to go, it’s like plasticine.

It’s taking a while to find the culprits but so far I’ve found bananas and apples have caused his poo to go really hard but I’m not sure if there are other things yet. Prune purée seems to help a bit but the best thing has been stopping solids for a couple of days. But I don’t know if that’s bad to do as how will his tummy get used to food if I keep stopping and starting? Do they eventually stop getting constipated or is it something he might always struggle with? Any tips?

It doesn’t sound too out of the ordinary, perhaps a little more water is needed depending on how high the water content of the food is. You don’t mention crying and discomfort but if there is then talk to the doctor. You definitely can’t stop giving solid food once you have started.

Try baby pouches with prunes (just prunes, not the ones with other fruit/veg in them as well). I always have several pouches in the cupboard in case of constipation. One pouch once a day and after a couple of days it should be better.

Totally normal! My son went through it and it was horrible. The gp prescribed him some laxatives, which we used for a couple of weeks before it seemed to stabilize.

I found live yogurt and pear puree great to get things moving. Butternut squash helps keep things soft, obviously prunes too. Lentils seem to soften things with my son as well, and porridge is good and any other fibre

Plenty of water with his food. Fibre apparently consipates you if you don't drink enough water

If you breastfeed, give him lots of milk as this is a natural laxative

Lots of tummy massages - look up on youtube how to do it effectively. You really need to put a decent amount of pressure into it

I reduced banana to half a banana every other day for a while plus a daily prune purée. Also had to give laxative half dose every other day for three months, then she grew into her digestive system. So by 11 months or so all was well. I didn't start weaning until close to 8 as she wasn't ready.

Blueberries! Get a bag of frozen ones, take out 10 or so at a time and leave them in the fridge overnight to defrost, or (my hack!) defrost them quickly by putting them in a small bowl on top of the kettle (no lid) after it’s boiled for a cup of tea. Then squidge them a bit before serving. Great for working on the pincer movement too. My DS (1) hoovers them up and I think they help keep everything moving.

Agree with PP re breast milk - the foremilk gets things going.

But also, their constitutions just get used to solids in time. It’s understandably just a bit of a shock to the system initially.